Spring 23 music thread

For us personally my kids do a maximum of two instruments, I know other people keep three or more going to a good standard but we focus on two. This gives plenty of time for family life and some other sports etc which we feel is important. Middle dd gets some practice time at school each week which helps - she has chosen a ' music performance ' class alongside the normal music exam subject so that gets her some time. Youngest also sometimes gets to practice during music class time. The rest is just being disciplined but keeping it fun. Aim for practice 6 days out of seven which in reality often dips to 4 or five when orchestras etc in full swing but that's better than aiming for 4 or 5 and it dipping to 2 or 3. 10 minutes being better than nothing. Leaving big instrument out to make it less of a faff. Not stressing about exams and doing when ready ( or not if not appropriate).

Thank you very much. I was getting worried. I loaded the exam up late at night and started to doubt myself. I am even doubting if I uploaded the correct file but I will give it more time.

It was interesting as in hindsight we should have gone for a F2F exam. Thought I would save time but in the end it was so challenging to get 4 takes in one complete row, when I am sure the F2F result would have been of a high standard.

Also for those of you with children at secondary and multiple instruments how to fit it all in. My older child needs to do grade 5 piano but does other instruments that are less grade dependent. How do you manage practice and school work at secondary?

Also anyone know the best approach for grade 5 theory? Is an intense and compressed course the best?

@Pianotwister on the ABRSM fb chat people seem to be getting results in about 2 weeks on performance exams at the moment- they're slower than f2f, assume because examiners are out doing the f2f exams

Hello, how long do you usually wait for Abrsm digital results? It has been over a week? So our a week and a half ? Should I be concerned?

This is for a piano performance grade.

If you used a different candidate ID (or school did) then this will delay results as they aren't linked to the account. More generally people seem to be saying about 14 days without additional checks, also if you didn't do the entry and the school is now closed it will be an additional 7 day before you can see on the dashboard

Afternoon all.

Anyone else waiting for performance exam results? DS's teacher submitted his g8 piano on 11 July, and we still haven't had a result. Apparently it usually takes between 7 and 10 days...

Confidence of admin competence is low, as about a week ago ABRSM asked for proof of him passing g5 theory. Which they know he must have done, as he's subsequently done g6 singing and g7 piano! Different school, though, thus different candidate ID, which may have been the problem.

At any rate, frustrating!

@horseymum love that contra is a holiday treat! Dd2 has just always been told by her (I guess now former) teacher that she is too small. We'll see.

She is back from tour - asking me if she could just go on orchestra tours as a job. Well, I guess yes, but they might not be quite the same! Seems to have had a lovely time, but is mostly filling me in on the gossip of who is dating who.

Delighted youngest has been told she'll be invited to some NYO inspire activities. Not sure how much she'll be able to attend as distance is an issue but we'll try to make some happen. ( They state they have activities across the UK then literally list six places in England for the first thing. Which is fine but just say England not UK!)

It was super quiet, but two back today so that's good. Real piano is lovely, it's really old but from a piano expert friend so in great condition.
Dd will be super pleased her bassoon teacher is bringing the contra again as a holiday treat! We are still not getting one though.

@horseymum that is exciting - I think a real piano is more appealing myself, but I'm a bit of a luddite I must admit.

Bet its quiet at yours with them all away- DD2 seems to be enjoying herself on tour, at least I've heard nothing from her except a picture of some cake and she's looking happy enough on the Facebook photos.

Excited to get a 'new' piano this week. We've not had a real one for several years as the previous one wouldn't hold it's tune so had to go. Dh might actually get the love back for playing as he never loved the clavinova. Kids looking forward to playing it, all away just now.

DS also on the 'non intense' tour. Though for him it's full on in comparison to his school music tour which involved only 1 concert!

I'm hoping that this time he loses less stuff though as he lost shoes and a shirt on the school one. His flute has an AirTag!

DD is at our local orchestra where I seem to have forgotten that lots of parents are 'enthusiastic / optimistic' re playing ability and instead said where she currently is. As a result the other kids she knows from the sat group she's in are in the more senior group. They may all have higher violin grades though and this one is a bit odd in that they just go with what is on the form!

Intense courses are brilliant for learning - this one definitely not intense, but lots of concerts and bonding and friendships. DD2 has been wildly excited for weeks about it. She turned down NCO for this tour, so let's hope it's as good as she hopes it is!

Cadbury world sounds good! Dd on a course which is very intense, the most downtime they get is playing card games and eating sweets! It's good for her to see some of her friends from jd when they can actually chat instead of just being in classes all day. Id heartily recommend residential courses for your dc if any of you get the opportunity.

Thanks horseymum, really useful!

@horseymum thanks for this - DD has just asked for some - so that's a helpful link! Too late for this week's tour so she'll have to cope with ones from the chemist. Just dropped her off all excited (not sure whether it's the thrill of some piccolo solos or the promise of a trip to Cadbury World. Perhaps both).

Document link at the bottom of this page
https://www.nyo.org.uk/support-safety or Google nyo hearing protection guidelines

Nyo have some really helpful ear protection guidelines, I'm not sure if you only get access when you sign up but I'll see if I can find them. NYOS offered all their musicians reduced price ear plugs, can't remember the brand. My middle dc has the ones from NYOS, youngest just has bog standard foam ones from chemist travel section as I needed some in a hurry and haven't got round to getting better ones. Our school has a love of orchestra/ bagpipe fusion so they are essential!

Can anyone recommend some decent ear protection? Guessing it should be custom made but have no idea where to start!

Catching up on here- what a lovely thing for the conductor to say and notice @Siriusmuggle !

@minisnowballs amazingly well done to your DD. What a time to pull a distinction out of the bag!

Thanks @minisnowballs much appreciated. Tbh we are clueless about music schools and barely know about the ones available. There is one about an hour from us that we have vague knowledge of, but probably not a good idea to pick just because of proximity! We've tried to hold off talk of music school til 6th form but we'll see I guess....

How lovely of you to have an unofficial foster child! What a wonderful thing to do and although of course doesn't replace DD, maybe a little other focus as you adjust.

@minisnowballs - huge congrats to your dd. What a high to go out on! This should give her bags of confidence as she transitions to her new school - she should be very proud of herself.

@georgedawes suspect she'll learn to handle it quite fast - tech like citimapper and life360 really helps when they're navigating cities if she has a phone. And hopefully she'll make friends for life at JD, as DD2 has at Saturday centre.

If I can help at all with the music school open day stuff do let me know - DD did three open days (not Edinburgh and not the strings one) and the right one for her was pretty much immediately obvious to her. She didn't even audition for one as she wasn't happy. They are very different. Enjoy the process and if I can be of any help with my very limited knowledge do let me know on a message. I've no doubt she'll meet DD if she goes to hers - there really aren't that many bassoonists at any of them.

DD2 is excited and doing lots of thinking about clothing for September. We're a little wobbly. However, as fortune would have it we are going to be privately fostering a friend of DD1's who is here alone from Ukraine and needs a rematched family to stay here to do her A-levels as her current hosts have had a change of circumstances.

This should stop the house feeling too empty. She plays the piano. At last, an instrument I understand! I'm trying to learn Ukrainian on Duolingo to communicate with her mum but it is very hard. So far I can say 'mum and dad are not here' (well, yes) and 'there is a cat'.

And thanks @horseymum - her teacher should be pleased I think, and I'm sure getting the new flute helped too. She's so in love with her shiny Murumatsu.

It's not that far at all really (and nothing like what I know a lot of people do for JD) but will mean a long day on a Sat, with one parent having to take her at least whilst she learns how to navigate the train journey. She can be very day dreamy so it's going to be a bit of a learning process for her to concentrate in the city 😂

How is your DD feeling (and you!) about starting music school? We're going to start the open day rounds in the autumn but no idea whether DD will actually go. She's very keen to, but I don't know how she'd be really. I'm thinking JD will be a good starting point for her to see how it might be, even if they're very different really.

Thanks @georgedawes - JD sounds exciting. How far is the travel? Hope she meets lots more bassoonist friends and has great teachers.